Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1887-06-05
THE BIG SQUEEZE
Which is Now Going on in the Coffee Of
Commerce.
CAUSES OF The STEADY ADVANCE.
4 Rise Of Over Two Hundred aud Fifty Per
Cent
WITHIN THE LAST EIGHT MONTHS.

berry WnlCn, during Tue ldSJ tnOuSdnu
years, has spread from its original home in
| Abyssinia over the whole civilized world,
our readers AVE become tOlerably well ac-
uuainted with the fact that within the past
seven or eight months the price per pound,
| from being at an extremely reasonable fig
ure, has climbed upward with a steadlness
most alarming To the consumer. Especial
IL marked has this advanced been
within the past sixty days, and al
though the price is now quoted ~
about stationary, there is no lack of proph-
cts in the business world, willing to stake
their regulations upon a further advance in
the near future. SO great has been this
advance that it is calculated the people of
the United States will pay about $50, 0OO,-
900 more for their coffee during lSST than
two years ago, and $50, OOO, OOO more than
three wears ago. In other words, the nd
y..nce is equivalent to a tax ct one dollar
on every man, woman and child IN the
country.
About the first Oflast Septembera good
average green Rio coffee, such ~ most
people buy, could be imported at New
| York for SIZE per pound. Shortly after
hat date the market took upon itself an
unusual frmneSS and an advance set IN,
which continued until the first OF the year,
when the same grade had about doubled
in price, ranging ut about Toe. This
figure was maintained until about the
| =. - Al. NTH NThnrn .V1Ataf1Nna
! fell oil about lc, but the loss WAS soon re-
| covered, and for a month OF two l6alIc
was the ruling figure. In the latter
part of April and the first of May
the price advanced To l9a2Oc, and
during the last six weeks there has been q
| further advance, until now fair green ltiO
costs BE and u fraction to import. Here
| we have an advance OF about 265 per cent.
4 BE coffee in the importers hands costs
the consumer in the u]eighbOrhOOd of 2~c.
This, be it remembered, is for 4 common
grade. Fine to choice Rios are higher, rs
a matter of course, and old Javas, MOchls
aud the rest Of the Eastern COiieeS higher
still.
Yesterday 4 REGISTER reporter circu-
lated among some of the local dealers in
tic utllNt WIN ~ x " lNalAhAAAE az why
and wherefore OF this heavy advance, the
probabilities of its continuance, and any
other data which might have n ten
dency to reconcile the coffee drink
er with the existing condition of
affairs. He found the topic one upon
which merchants were quite willing To
talk, and during the afternoon he picked
up q good deal of information, Il part OF
which is here submitted.
About eight or ten months ago, when
coffee was ut its cheapest, n bi~gsyndicate OF
New York, French and Brazilian firms
was formed to force up the price, and ~
soon rs things were gotten in shape, the
cry was raised that the crop for the cnSu-
ing year was going to be very short, prin-
cipally owing to the freezing out of the
Brazilian orchards, in which country
there are between 500, 900, 900 and 6OO,-
came sitter, and an advance set in. When
the crop maturcd it was found that in
stead of a crop of 6,OOO,O Oh sacks
ct 100 pounds each, Brazil had only
produced about 4, 500, 900 sacks, and, under
this favorable condition the syndicate had
no trouble i'm sending up the price Il few
more nOtches. In CeylOn and Java the
leaf disease also produced a very decided
| shortage, and the SqueezerS were enabled
to give the market another boost. Pres
emily il became uoi5yd abroad that the
-upply was less than it had been for a gen
Grafton, in the face OF IN increasing de
mand, then the coffee gamblers ut the New
York Exchange, reinforced by brokers and
-.l.4.-. III .t.V iha country fnnlF a
hand, and the price was kept going at u
lively rate. The only coffee exchange IN
the country is that in New York, which
now has a great boom. The fever is higher
| than ever before in the history at the trade.
| There is more gambling in it than in any
other grocery staple. The present unccr-
tain outlook of the supply has brought
outsiders into the speculation. Syndic;ttes
have often been formed To bull the market,
but in the majority of cases they have
failed. The syndicate Of l~-3, after cost
ing the consumers of c"llrc over s., OOO,OOO,
lost more than il made ard brought down
several large houses. The principal menu
ber4 OF that syndicate were Hayre and Rio
houses, with some few New York firms
added. aud most OF them were Scorchcd, ~
they deserved to be-.
To-day the highest figures are paid for
Mysore coffee, and il is considered the best
grown. MysOre is Il part OF upper British
India, and the cultivation Of the berry Is
entirely under European control. Thus
far the leaf desease, which has spread Il
havoc i'm Java and CeylOn, has left British
India alone, hut how long 1t will do 80 it
* hard TO say. All attempts to grappel
with this disease have proved trultleSs, and
it it ever puts in ~ appearance IN Brrzll,
the DAYS of coffee drinking will be mum
bered. There are those who believe that,
unless the leaf deScasr can he grappled
with successfully, it is only u question OF
time when a cup of coffee will he n great a
luxury "a a bottle OF champagne.
The consumption has increased much
more rapidly than the supply. In 1857,
the consumption per capita was ~
pounds; in 1873, the first year after it was
put on the free list, 1t was 9.61; in lS7Sit
WIS g.59, and il has since increased, but
how long the demand will keep up under
the extOrtiOnate prices now asked is u
question. Some inquiries on this point
were made of wholesale grOcerS. Two
leading arms said they noticed 4 falling of
IN the uellltuu, u luIu SsAu lucy htbl
noticed no material change, while a fourth
said they were not able tO make Il compIri-
son on the spur OF the moment. One job
Der made this prediction: The CROP
said he, 'iS certainly short, and If cOnsump-
ton doesn't fall of to exceed p per cent,
present prices will he maintained, or we
NAV even nave 4 further advance. On the
other hand, If consumption drops off over
% per cent, look out FOR a marked de
cline
Conscious that for some time past rumOrs
had been floating about to the effect that
some Wheeling men had made = pretty
good thing out Of the rise, the reporter
made an attempt to get some data upon
the subject, but noticed n marked diSin-
~clination ON the part Of those approached
to answer questions on this point. 1t was
freely admitted, however, that q tremen-
dOus amount of coffee had been handled
here, and that, rs the price had been going
up pretty steadily, there had been a hand
some margin of profit, in some cases run
ming up to four figure sums.
Abiding to the discrepancy between the